How to: Make the Perfect Cheeseboard
Feeds loads of people
Hey guys! I'm going to keep this one short and sweet because you're all definitely either drunk, hungover, lying in bed, or stuffing your face because it's NEW YEARS! I'm writing this New Years day in New Zealand amid the beautiful sunshine we have here on the beach. I am not one for drinking so I'm not hungover in the slightest (thank you G&Ts for always keeping me relatively hangover-free!) THUS I am writing this post as a way to use my energy and fervour for good.
In our house, cheese is sacred, and a good cheeseboard when we have tons of guests is very important. It stops them from asking 'when's dinner' a hundred times over. So, without further ado, here is a quick how-to on what to put on your cheeseboard.
CHEESES
You want a variety of cheeses, strong, mild, soft, creamy, hard, sharp. My go-to's are:
Camembert - creamy
Brie - creamy
Havarti - soft
Cumin gouda - soft
Cheddar - hard
Comte - hard
A blue. Always a blue. Someone will want it.
ANTIPASTO
We like to have some different meats sometimes to really fill out the board. The best and safest bets are always:
A good, thinly sliced salami - buying from the butcher will probably allow for a more flavourful salami
Proscuitto/Parma ham - obviously
Wildcard! - Something that sounds delicious but that not many people will have tried. For example smoked ham.
CRACKERS
Oh man, you want to have a large variety of crackers as well. With a lot of people comes a lot of different preferences. Some like wafer thin, some like thick and seeded. You've gotta have them all. We often have:
Water crackers
Wafer crackers
Ryvita crackers
Thick seeded ones
Flat crisp breads
DIPS/JAMS/SAUCES
People love to put a little something sweet on their crackers and if they're not about the fruit they'll probably be about the dips, jams, and sauces. My advice is having 2 - 3 options for a group of 10 - 15 people. For example we had:
Honey
Fig compote
Chilli jam
ADDITIONS
I always like to have a little something extra - whether it's a sweet fruit, some honeyed nuts, or some olives. This year we had these on our plate:
Olives
Cherries
Pomegranate seeds (AMAZING)
Honeyed nuts
Walnuts
Paté (it was new years, cmon)
How to decorate your cheeseboard
Start with slicing, cubing, quartering, halving etc. your cheeses. For a pretty cheeseboard you want to change up the way you slice things. I sometimes partially slice the cheeses and leave the rest whole, both for aesthetic and so people can choose what size slice they want to cut. Examples:
Camembert - take your round of camembert or brie and cut out a few triangles and leave the rest whole.
Cheddar - cube your cheddar and pile it on the board
Gouda - thin slices
Blue cheese - leave a large triangle for people to take from as they please
Pecorino/sharp cheeses - cut off/break off small chunks and make two stacks on the board
Next Place your crackers in and around the cheeses. Fill in the gaps with spoonfuls of fruit, nuts, slices of meat, and sauces. If you don't have room for you jams and chutneys and whatnot, simply place them next to the board.
Leave some small plates and 2 - 3 knives next to the board for people to serve themselves and voila! You're done! You're going to be the host/ess with the most/ess.
Stay Salty,
Romy xx